| 1998 Vuelta a España | |
| Date: | 6–27 September |
| Stages: | 22 |
| Distance: | 3774 |
| Unit: | km |
| Time: | 93h 44' 08" |
| Speed: | 40.262 |
| First: | Abraham Olano |
| First Nat: | ESP |
| First Color: | yellow |
| Second: | Fernando Escartín |
| Second Nat: | ESP |
| Third: | José María Jiménez |
| Third Nat: | ESP |
| Points: | Fabrizio Guidi |
| Points Nat: | ITA |
| Points Color: | rosa |
| Mountains: | José María Jiménez |
| Mountains Nat: | ESP |
| Mountains Color: | white |
| Sprints: | Giancarlo Raimondi |
| Sprints Nat: | ITA |
| Sprints Color: | blue |
| Previous: | 1997 |
| Next: | 1999 |
The 53rd edition of the Vuelta a España was held 5 to 27 September 1998 and began in Córdoba and ended in Madrid. The 1998 Vuelta had 22 stages over 3774km (2,345miles) with the winning average speed of 40.262km/h.Spaniard Abraham Olano took the leader's jersey after the first individual time trial with 41 seconds over Frenchman Laurent Jalabert.[1] Olano's lead in the mountains decreased each stage as teammate José María Jiménez marked Olano's rivals and took several stage wins in the process until Jiménez took the jersey from Olano on the final mountain stage to Alto de Navacerrada with Olano in third place at 38 seconds.[2] On the following day's individual time trial, Olano took back the lead to win the only Grand Tour of his career.[3] [4] [5]
The race also saw the astonishing comeback of Lance Armstrong after he was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer in 1996. Armstrong's fourth-place finish was stripped by USADA in 2012 due to doping.[6]
See main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1998 Vuelta a España.
A total of 22 teams were invited to participate in the 1998 Vuelta a España. Seventeen of the competing squads were Trade Team I teams, four teams were Trade Team II teams, while the other team was Trade Team III. Each team sent a squad of nine riders, so the Vuelta began with a peloton of 198 cyclists, a total of 108 riders made it to the finish in Madrid.
The 22 teams invited to the race were:[7]
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 September | Córdoba | 161.7km (100.5miles) | Hilly stage | ||||
| 2 | 6 September | Córdoba to Cádiz | 234.6km (145.8miles) | Flat stage | ||||
| 3 | 7 September | Cádiz to Estepona | 192.6km (119.7miles) | Flat stage | ||||
| 4 | 8 September | Málaga to Granada | 173.5km (107.8miles) | Hilly stage | ||||
| 5 | 9 September | Olula del Río to Murcia | 165.5km (102.8miles) | Flat stage | ||||
| 6 | 10 September | Murcia to Xorret de Catí | 201.5km (125.2miles) | Mountain stage | ||||
| 7 | 11 September | Alicante to Valencia | 185km (115miles) | Flat stage | ||||
| 8 | 12 September | Palma de Mallorca | 181.5km (112.8miles) | Hilly stage | ||||
| 9 | 13 September | Alcúdia | 39.5km (24.5miles) | Individual time trial | ||||
| 14 September | Province of Barcelona | Rest day | ||||||
| 10 | 15 September | Vic to Estación de Pal (Andorra) | 199.3km (123.8miles) | Mountain stage | ||||
| 11 | 16 September | Andorra la Vella (Andorra) to Cerler | 186km (116miles) | Mountain stage | ||||
| 12 | 17 September | Benasque to Jaca, Canfranc International station | 187km (116miles) | Hilly stage | ||||
| 13 | 18 September | Sabiñánigo | 208.5km (129.6miles) | Hilly stage | ||||
| 14 | 19 September | Biescas to Zaragoza | 145.5km (90.4miles) | Flat stage | ||||
| 15 | 20 September | Zaragoza to Soria | 178.7km (111miles) | Flat stage | ||||
| 16 | 21 September | Soria to | 143.7km (89.3miles) | Mountain stage | ||||
| 17 | 22 September | Burgos to León | 188.5km (117.1miles) | Flat stage | ||||
| 18 | 23 September | León to Salamanca | 223km (139miles) | Flat stage | ||||
| 19 | 24 September | Ávila to Segovia | 170.4km (105.9miles) | Mountain stage | ||||
| 20 | 25 September | Segovia to Alto de Navacerrada | 206km (128miles) | Mountain stage | ||||
| 21 | 26 September | Fuenlabrada | 39km (24miles) | Individual time trial | ||||
| 22 | 27 September | Madrid | 163km (101miles) | Flat stage | ||||
| Total | 3774km (2,345miles) | |||||||
| Legend | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denotes the winner of the general classification | Denotes the leader of the mountains classification | |||
| Denotes the leader of the points classification | Denotes the winner of the sprints classification | |||
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | + 1' 23" | |||
| 3 | + 2' 12" | |||
| DSQ | ||||
| 5 | + 2' 37" | |||
| 6 | + 2' 58" | |||
| 7 | + 5' 51" | |||
| 8 | + 6' 05" | |||
| 9 | + 8' 58" | |||
| 10 | + 10' 17" |
| Final general classification (11–108) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 11 | + 13' 33" | ||
| 108 | + 4h 09' 30" | ||
| Rider | Team | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 206 | |||
| 2 | 158 | |||
| 3 | 127 | |||
| 4 | 124 | |||
| 5 | 115 | |||
| 6 | 108 | |||
| 7 | 102 | |||
| 8 | 102 | |||
| 9 | 101 | |||
| 10 | 96 |
| Rider | Team | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 184 | |||
| 2 | 93 | |||
| 3 | 92 | |||
| 4 | 75 | |||
| 5 | 62 | |||
| 6 | 60 | |||
| 7 | 59 | |||
| 8 | 56 | |||
| 9 | 54 | |||
| 10 | 48 |
| Rider | Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 53 | |||
| 2 | 40 | |||
| 3 | 29 | |||
| 4 | 27 | |||
| 5 | 14 | |||
| 6 | 12 | |||
| 7 | 11 | |||
| 8 | 10 | |||
| 9 | 9 | |||
| 10 | 9 |
| Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 281h 14' 43" | ||
| 2 | + 8' 58" | ||
| 3 | + 28' 59" | ||
| 4 | + 46' 10" | ||
| 5 | + 1h 04' 17" | ||
| 6 | + 1h 06' 36" | ||
| 7 | Avianca–Telecom | + 1h 41' 49" | |
| 8 | + 2h 30' 29" | ||
| 9 | + 2h 48' 23" | ||
| 10 | + 3h 07' 14" |